Balsalaside and Rectal meds questions

You try and retain all the rectal meds. It's a little misleading that some are called enema, because they are not meant to flush you out.

Here is a link that describes the various 5-ASA and related compounds. To be simplistic, 5-ASAs (such as Asacol) and their related compounds (such as balsalazide) use a substance that's the anti-inflammatory product in aspirin, but then delivers it so that it doesn't get absorbed into the stomach, but breaks apart in the intestinal tract. Some of these meds work better than other for each of us.

In this article, Colozal was pretty new in the US:
http://www.medicinenet.com/ulcerative_colitis/page6.htm#5-ASA%20Compounds

I also suggest you check out the educational info at ccfa.org for more about meds.

The 5-ASAs and their relations are the safest meds we can take for UC. Yes, there can be kidney toxicity, but it is rare.

The oral meds don't always keep their effectiveness all the way to the "bottom," so the rectal meds - Rowasa is a retention "enema" ("squirt") based on 5-ASA that can attack the issue from the bottom up.

Often the most stubborn inflammation is at the very bottom, sop many of us find the rectal meds, whether retention enemas or suppositories, to be what actually boosts the oral meds to get us into remission.

Hope this helps......

The best thing you can do is read on the CCFA website and just google the drug name. That'll give you a lot of info. When I was first diagnosed, I read a lot about all of the different treatment options for UC, including colectomy. It helped me deal with my diagnosis, because I knew what might be coming down the road. Education=power.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9hn8MR2oJI